Epcot Plan help? (2 Adults, no Kids)

[Alicialee05]

My Husband and I will be going to WDW for the first time in September (No Kids!) We are taking this as our opportunity to kind of scope it all out before bringing our girls next year.

Arrival day (9/10) we will be going to MNSSHP
Full Day 1(9/11)- MK
Day 2(9/12)- EP (with extra magic hours in the evening)
Day 3(9/13)- AK in the AM and HS in the PM

Hoping for some advice on Epcot, as it's the only day that I feel overwhelmed by.
As of now we have the following FPs:
Spaceship Earth-9:45
Mission Space- 10:50
Soarin'- 11:50

Only dining reservation is Via Napoli at 5:50-- I think I may try and move this back some as we will probably be snacking/drinking around the world a bit throughout the afternoon.

My initial thought was to arrive for rope drop and do Test track right away, but now I'm thinking we should take a day to sleep in a little (I mean, no kids!) and plan to arrive for our first FP around 10. Every other day will be early mornings, and probably late evenings, so this might be a good day to rest up a bit...

So, advice? Think it's okay to skip rope drop to catch a few extra Zs (I feel like we'd be wasting what little time we have there, but also I know we will be exhausted!) Anything we absolutely shouldn't miss?

 

[iujen94]

Epcot Food and Wine Festival will be going on during your trip! https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/events-tours/epcot/epcot-international-food-and-wine-festival/ You might want to re-think that Via Napoli reservation and try out the food at the booths instead - it's a blast!

As for rope drop, if you really want to ride Test Track, I'd definitely suggest getting up early for rope drop. The waits just tend to get really crazy for Test Track, such that you'll have a huge wait unless you suck it up and go ahead and wake up early and ride it at rope drop. I'd rather get to Epcot at rope drop and not stay for the extra magic hours, if you're thinking it will be too long of a day, but that's just my opinion!

 

[Alicialee05]

Epcot Food and Wine Festival will be going on during your trip! https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/events-tours/epcot/epcot-international-food-and-wine-festival/ You might want to re-think that Via Napoli reservation and try out the food at the booths instead - it's a blast!

As for rope drop, if you really want to ride Test Track, I'd definitely suggest getting up early for rope drop. The waits just tend to get really crazy for Test Track, such that you'll have a huge wait unless you suck it up and go ahead and wake up early and ride it at rope drop. I'd rather get to Epcot at rope drop and not stay for the extra magic hours, if you're thinking it will be too long of a day, but that's just my opinion!

Thanks for your response! I was aware of F&W, and actually talked to my husband about canceling the Via Napoli reservation but that was one place he was adamant about, so I left it as-is. I checked this morning to see what other times were available, and I think because of the Eat to the Beat concert series times are limited (9pm was the only other evening opening)

 

[DeterminedOne]

Two adults here. I suggest rope drop also. You can get some of the Future World attractions out of the way in time to explore World Showcase. There are so many details in each country, plus you will have the crowd from F&WF to navigate. Don't sleep in.

 

[Nettester]

Personally, I would sleep in, arrive around 10 to use your Fast Passes, and take advantage of evening extra magic hours later. That is, as long as a mid-day swim break isn't more important to you than sleeping in. My daughter and I were able to ride Frozen Ever After after Illuminations with a reasonable wait and no fast pass because all the non-resort guests were not allowed to ride. This was during Spring Break week. We also hit Test Track during evening magic hours without a long wait. Use single rider with Test Track. The signs say all singles will be separated, but you almost always end up in the same car (we did twice).

 

[Alicialee05]

Personally, I would sleep in, arrive around 10 to use your Fast Passes, and take advantage of evening extra magic hours later. That is, as long as a mid-day swim break isn't more important to you than sleeping in. My daughter and I were able to ride Frozen Ever After after Illuminations with a reasonable wait and no fast pass because all the non-resort guests were not allowed to ride. This was during Spring Break week. We also hit Test Track during evening magic hours without a long wait. Use single rider with Test Track. The signs say all singles will be separated, but you almost always end up in the same car (we did twice).

No Mid-Day breaks planned. Thanks for your input!

 

[DavidNYC]

I agree to push dinner late so you can eat around the world during the afternoon (or try to change Napoli to lunch and eat through the evening). I'd say for now, don't overthink it. See how you feel when you go to sleep the night before. Other than TT, you're not going to have any issues doing anything you want in a fairly leisurely way. If you need to sleep, take it. You can always do TT right at the very end of the evening. Also - for a party of 2, make sure you know how to use the My Disney Experience app to make ride reservations as I think you may have a shot at TT or Soarin again later in the day. Just keep checking. For mid-week September you'll likely have good 4th FP availability as long as you keep checking.

I'd take a look at a website that lists all the Epcot entertainment going on that day and see what you want (for me, the British rock band at the UK pavilion is a must do every trip).

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I would sleep in. If you get up early and decide to go early, then go to TT first (and also see if you can then walk onto Mission Space in standby so you don't have to criss-cross FW to go back to it after Spaceship Earth. You can then switch your MS FP+ to something else.)

With 2 adults, I would simply do the TT single rider line when you head over to that area during your Mission Space FP+ time frame. You won't ride together, but you will get on the ride faster than if you did standby. And if you want to design a car, simply go into the TT gift shop (to the right as you look at the entrance to TT) and head into the TT exit games and showroom area. You can design a car there, scan it to your MB, then exit and get in the single rider line. If the single rider line is too long at that point, you could circle back around during evening EMH. With two adults and a whole day at EP, you will get on TT at some point during the day.

 

[Sparky Duck]

Personally, I would sleep in, arrive around 10 to use your Fast Passes, and take advantage of evening extra magic hours later. That is, as long as a mid-day swim break isn't more important to you than sleeping in. My daughter and I were able to ride Frozen Ever After after Illuminations with a reasonable wait and no fast pass because all the non-resort guests were not allowed to ride. This was during Spring Break week. We also hit Test Track during evening magic hours without a long wait. Use single rider with Test Track. The signs say all singles will be separated, but you almost always end up in the same car (we did twice).

This would be my exact response!